For the major labels, MySpace Music is the cumulation of more than 18 months of experimentation in new business
models and a launching pad for their digital music strategies for the future. While detractors continue to level
criticisms against them for their alleged role in hindering the digital music market with complicated licensing
demands and other limitations, the majors have largely reassessed their approach to the Internet, spurred by the
continued slide in physical music sales.
During the year and a half leading up to the launch, the majors have signed unprecedented deals opening the door to
ad-supported free streaming, digital rights management-free music sales and reduced licensing costs in return for
revenue share and/or company equity.
The joint venture of the News Corp. subsidiary and Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music
Group, EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, MySpace Music Service represents a turning point for the recording
industry and MySpace itself has now place the recording industry in better light to hopfully gain
the trust of the future digital music and its new unlimited support system which is the social networking,promotions,marketing and the internet the www concept has changed the way of control and its deceit to an open forum and its focus of we can do this ourselfs now with the new digital thinking ways of this y2k generation which now have seen the we don't need a major to sell our music for $10.00 and get only a $1.00 and 15cents back in sales ,wow this really is the new deal for an artist whom now can get $7.00 now because of this new digital distribution and social media outlets.Even as we proceed to this new way of thinking and inner faith and power of just applying the useful new tools and outlets marketed to us some undevelop artists still want a major record deal and thats only because of mental programming with the control factor of this is the onlyway to the top and really the key element is making a living with your passions and gifts.Experience and its ups and downs with some deals and no deals with bigger bills will always reach one and teach some but at lease the talent searchs,showcases etc are on the minds of the majors because they will not survive it they can't sell no product and the lifelines are and always will be hot new acts and trendsetters.
All these elements are present in the MySpace Music deal. As such, the service represents less of an experiment and
more of a template for future agreements.
"It highlights the shift in our business to bring business models to the market that meet where the demand is for
our music," UMG's eLabs division executive vp Rio Caraeff said. "It's the single largest thing we've done to change
the way we do business around the way the customer wants to experience music."
Caraeff says to expect further flexibility in digital music deals in the near future. Among other things, this
means including access to the Universal catalog in software development kits that give developers the ability to
create new applications with built-in music licensing.
"You'll see more from us going forward in this area," he said. "The notion of creating and enabling more innovation
around music than would normally occur under our prior modes of doing business is very important to us. We
recognize that the ways we can think of music are not the only ways music can be used online. We would like to see
tens of thousands of instances of music being used in creative ways in interesting apps online with less friction
and less hassle."
For MySpace, the service represents a significant expansion from a simple social networking site billed as "a place
for friends" to a content-driven service billed as "a place for music," using its core community features as its
foundation.
"The whole consumption patterns for both music and video have changed a great deal in the last five years," MySpace
co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe said. "We wanted to put together a music service consistent with those changing
patterns and layer a business model around it."
The social networking giant has long served two masters -- the artists with profiles on the service and the music
fans with the same. There are more than 5 million bands with MySpace profiles, and while MySpace doesn't provide a
specific breakdown, the vast majority are independent or unsigned artists.
